On this week’s Community Concerns, Brian talks about the latest Coronavirus news.
First up, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser joined the show today to talk about the virtual tourism meetings that have taken place during the Coronavirus outbreak. The Governor extended the stay-at-home order until at least May 15th, Nungesser discusses the likelihood that tourism and vacationing in Louisiana will be up and running when May 15th comes around. (View the tourism sight at LouisianaTravel.com) Then, Nungesser breaks down Louisiana’s seafood industry and how residents can support the struggling industry, that you can view at LouisianaSeafood.com. Lt. Governor Nungesser also explains when most of the State Parks and museums will be re-opened and how much money the parks are losing during the stay-at-home order. He also talks about students having to learn from home and tutoring services for testing and the details of it that can be found at HomeworkLA.org. Nungesser explains the importance of volunterring at the food banks and meal delivery services during this time of need and says you can learn how to do that at VolunteerLouisiana.gov.
Dr. Vincent Cataldo is an Oncologist with Our Lady of the Lake and he joined to talk about a study being performed to determine whether or not plasma from a previously infected person can help treat Coronavirus patients. Dr. Cataldo says that when taking plasma, they only take the liquid portion of the blood to get antibodies that helped fight off the virus. In order to donate plasma, a patient must have recovered from Coronavirus and be asymptomatic for 28 days. Plasma donations are a 1 to 1 donation meaning when one person donates plasma, the entire donation will go to one person.
Next, Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran was on the show to talk about how Pastor Spell’s mother has encouraged people to call the Central Police Department constantly in order to jam up their phone lines. Chief Corcoran says that being an inconvenience is only part of it, if the phone lines are busy, the 911 call center can’t transfer calls to them, which means a person in need might not be able to get through to the police department in order to receive the assistance they need. Chief Corcoran explains how the situation came to this point and how it can be resolved.
Finally, State Representative Ted James joined the show to talk about contracting the Coronavirus and what his symptoms were like and how long it took for him to recover from the virus. Representative James explains the treatment he received at the hospital and the helpfulness of all the nurses. Then, Ted talks about the mental aspect of fighting the virus and how important it is to move around instead of just laying around and letting it pass. James says that it was a difficult road to recovery but he’s greatful for all the nurses.